Prevalence of Pathogenic Antibodies in Psychosis (PPiP)1 study

The PPiP study aimed at understanding the prevalence of pathogenic antibodies in patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis.

The immune system normally controls our ability to fight infection. If the immune system goes wrong it may cause diseases called ‘autoimmune’ diseases. We can diagnose some of these autoimmune diseases using blood tests. We are specifically interested in antibodies that may be the cause of symptoms of psychosis or schizophrenia. We worked with Mental Health services across England to estimate the prevalence of these autoimmune diseases in people with first episode psychosis.

The PPiP1 study included patients from Early Intervention in Psychosis services between 14-35 years of age, who were experiencing their first episode of psychosis and had been taking antipsychotic medication for less than 6 weeks.